Kulkarni launches second bid for Texas’ 22nd Congressional District

Sri Kulkarni, pictured June 24, 2018, at a protest in Houston, announced Thursday he is running again for Texas' 22nd Congressional District. (Marie D. De Jesús / Houston Chronicle)

Photo: Marie D. De Jesús, Staff / Houston Chronicle

Democrat Sri Kulkarni, an ex-foreign service officer who last year came within five points of unseating U.S. Rep. Pete Olson, announced Thursday he is challenging the Sugar Land Republican anew in Texas’ 22nd Congressional District.

Making his first run for office in 2018, Kulkarni drew attention by repeatedly out fundraising Olson and forming a multilingual campaign team to take aim at the district’s highly diverse population. He ultimately lost by more than 14,000 votes, or about 4.9 percentage points.

To bridge the gap, Kulkarni said his efforts will largely revolve around registering new voters in the district, where he has identified roughly 70,000 unregistered residents who are eligible to vote. Kulkarni also intends to reach more low-propensity voters this cycle, he said, and harness lingering energy from his prior campaign by jumping in only five months after the November midterms.

“We have people who are pumped up to come out and knock on doors right now, and we're a year and a half away from the election,” Kulkarni said. “People wanted change in this district, and since we've built all that infrastructure, it would be a waste to start from scratch.”

Before he can set his sights on Olson, however, Kulkarni must first get past the Democratic primary, where he already faces an opponent. Nyanza Moore, a Fox 26 political commentator, is also seeking the Democratic nomination.

Whoever emerges to face the Republican nominee will likely begin with better odds than Kulkarni did in 2018. Viewed for years as a longshot for Democrats, the district has made it onto the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s 2020 battleground map, an early indication that national Democrats are willing to put resources into flipping the seat.

Though the once bright-red 22nd Congressional District takes in parts of Brazoria and Harris counties, its core is Fort Bend, where an influx of immigrants has spiked the county’s population and made it one of the most diverse in the nation.

Olson’s win here in 2018 ultimately was decisive, but it marked the first time he won a general election by fewer than 19 percentage points.

“The interesting thing is, even though we have all this diversity, all of these people coming from different backgrounds, sometimes coming from other parts of Texas, or the country or even the world — the issues are still the same,” Kulkarni said. “People still need health care.”

The 2018 race at times grew hostile, with Olson at one point referring to Kulkarni — whose father is an immigrant from India — as an “Indo-American carpetbagger.” Months later, Kulkarni still references the incident.

Olson, a former Navy pilot, would vie for a seventh term if he seeks re-election.

As part of his 2020 launch, Kulkarni also is rolling out a list of early endorsements, including U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, former state Sen. Wendy Davis, former Houston Mayor Annise Parker and Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia.

Former U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson, a Democrat who represented the district before losing to Olson in 2008, also is backing Kulkarni.

Like most first-time candidates, Kulkarni emphasized his backstory on the campaign trail in 2018, and he appears likely to do so again this cycle. He grew up in Sharpstown, dropped out of college to care for his father — who was diagnosed with leukemia — then joined the State Department after returning to and graduating from college. He served in the department for 14 years.

Jasper covers City Hall, local politics and breaking news for the Houston Chronicle through the Hearst Journalism Fellowship program. He previously covered Bexar County and local politics for the San Antonio Express-News. Jasper graduated from Northwestern University in 2017 with degrees in journalism and political science. He has interned for the Tampa Bay Times, Washington Post and Fortune magazine.